Off-Broadway's New Ohio will once again open its doors to the Obie-winning Ice Factory Festival: The theatre's annual showcase of new work will run June 26–August 10, with a lineup of seven works all directed by women.
“This summer our festival is completely directed by women, which was not something we set out to do, but I think it speaks to the zeitgeist of the moment and the tremendous cultural and creative energy it has unleashed,” says New Ohio Artistic Director Robert Lyons.
This year's festival features a new opera and theatre hybrid about Byzantine Empresses, an ensemble piece celebrating the legacy of feminist writer, activist, and poet Audre Lorde, a gritty new Americana musical about Nancy Reagan from Rat Queen Theatre Co., and a new play by Behind the Sheet playwright Charly Evon Simpson and The Pack Theater, among other offerings.
Check out the complete lineup below.
June 26–29:Outside of Eden
Created by Byzantine Choral Project. An explosive mix of opera and theatre about the Byzantine Empresses that explores the relentless drive to tragedy in female stories.
July 3–6: The Drinking Bird
Created by Limited Liability Theater Company. A group of actors delves into a dialectical exchange about Universal Basic Income, the Green New Deal, and the American economy.
July 10–13: Songs About Trains
Created by Radical Evolution. A multiracial cohort of artists collaboratively explore the multiethnic history of the laborers who built the US Rail system.
July 17–20: Sex Play
Written by Charly Evon Simpson, developed by The Pack Theater, and directed by Jenny Reed. A lyrical, playfully candid meditation on the nature of human intimacy.
July 24–27: Judy Doomed Us All
Created by Rat Queen Theatre Co., Nancy Reagan and her speechwriter get trapped in an unsavory town in a gritty Americana musical wrapped in tumbleweed.
July 31–August 3: Lordes
Written by Gethsemane Herron-Coward and directed by Katherine Wilkinson. Writer, activist, Black, lesbian, poet, warrior. An ensemble of women celebrates Audre Lorde’s legacy.
August 7–10: Raw Pasta
Written by Maya Macdonald and directed by Jaclyn Biskup of The Mill. In a week-long “Facing Toxic Masculinity” intensive Sam is desperate to come out of it as less of a douchebag.
For tickets and more information visit NewOhioTheatre.org